Never Lose Faith
by Starlit Purple
Summary: When one of their own goes missing and is determined dead, close friends pull together. Will their newfound destiny lead them to the hidden truth about their friend's disappearance? ...or will they never know what really happened? -DISCONTINUED.
1. Meetings part 1

**Disclaimer**: I any of the characters you recognize, I do not own. On the other hand, Ashley's mother, Mrs. Coleman, and Ashley Marie Martin are mine.

**Summary**: After one of their own goes missing and is determined dead, close friends pull together. When they accept their destiny, will they finally find out the truth about what really happened to their friend?

**Never Lose Faith**

**Chapter 1: Meetings part 1**

"You'll be just fine sweetie, it's only for a few hours and then you can come back home and tell us all about it."

"But I don't wanna go, can't you stay with me mommy?"

"No honey, I've got to go to work. Your daddy's going to be here when you get out, ok?" The mother said anxiously trying to convince her daughter to go in the classroom so she wouldn't be late for work. It was the first day of Kindergarten, which was only a half day, and Ashley was very nervous.

Luckily, just then the teacher came walking out of the classroom. She walked over to Ashley and knelt down to her level. "Hi there, you must be Ashley." Ashley nodded her head shyly and clung to her mother's leg. "Well, I'm Mrs. Coleman and I'm very excited to have you in my class. Now, why don't you go on in and find the seat with your name on it."

Ashley looked up at her mother, who leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I love you sweetie."

"I love you too mommy," she replied hugging her mother, then pulled away and slowly walked into the classroom.

There were lots of kids in her class and they were all over the room. Some were sitting on a big rectangular rug in the back of the room that had the alphabet on it and some were admiring the toys and games that were stacked up against the wall. Very few of them were actually in their seats.

There were five round tables in the room and name tags on the chairs around them. Ashley found one that said Ashley H. and sat down. She put her backpack on the table and was fixing to open it when a blond-haired girl walked over to her and said, "You're sitting in my seat."

"No I'm not. This is my chair, it has my name on it," Ashley told the girl.

"It's MY chair, it says Ashley and that's my first name," the girl said, her blond ponytail swinging as she talked.

"Well Ashley is MY name so it's my chair." she replied being just as stubborn.

"Fine, I'm telling Mrs. Coleman that you won't get out of my seat," the girl said and then stomped off.

Ashley started to get worried. _'I'm going to get in trouble and it's only the first day. Mommy and daddy will be so mad at me.'_

The other Ashley walked back over to her table with Mrs. Coleman in tow. "See, she took my chair, it says Ashley and that's my name."

Mrs. Coleman looked from the blond-haired girl to Ashley and asked, "Ashley what's your last name?"

"Hammond," she answered softly.

"And what is your last name?" Mrs. Coleman asked turning to the other girl.

"Martin, Ashley Martin,"the girl said with her nose in the air.

"Well Ashley, this seat is for an Ashley H., yours should say Ashley M. on it. I think it's right over at that table," Mrs. Coleman replied pointing across the room. The girl turned and haughtily walked over to where Mrs. Coleman pointed.

The rest of the morning went well for Ashley...until recess. The teacher had started off class by telling them what they would do and learn in Kindergarten, then she let them play games until time for recess.

Recess was what Ashley had been looking forward to. She loved playing on the playground, especially the swings. She singled out the swing set and raced toward it. Just as she reached one of the empty swings, she was knocked to the ground by someone else running toward the same swing. Well, not so much as knocked to the ground as _pushed_ to the ground. Ashley heard several of the other kids laughing at her as she stood back up. It was a group of girls, three of them, and they were looking past Ashley to the person that had pushed her down. One of the girls said, "Marie, can I swing when you get done?"

Ashley turned around and saw the other Ashley that had tried to get her in trouble that morning sitting in the swing that she was going for.

"_If_ I get done, then you can have it," the girl replied haughtily.

Ashley squinted her eyes at the girl. "I thought your name was Ashley," she said putting her hands on her hips.

"It _is_!_" _the girl shot back. "My first name is Ashley, but everyone calls me by my middle name, Marie. You're just mad cause I got the swing first. Why don't you go play on the merry-go-round or something." she said with a sneer, making the three girls laugh again.

Ashley turned her back to them and walked to the other end of the swing set where two boys were swinging. All the swings were taken now so she decided to just wait until another one was free. She leaned against a support pole with her arms crossed, staring at the ground. The sound of someone scuffing the ground to stop their swing made Ashley look up. One of the boys was staring right at her, his swing almost completely stopped. "Here, you can have my swing if you want it," the boy told her.

"Thank you," Ashley said with a huge grin when the boy passed her the swing. She sat down and pushed off from the ground to get a good start. The boy stayed where he was as he watched Ashley climb higher, then he looked over at the boy that he had been swinging beside. You could tell that they knew each other and hadn't just met a few hours ago. Ashley noticed this and was really feeling left out, the other kids were already making friends and having fun, but she hadn't really talked to anyone...anyone other than Marie anyway. And it seemed everyone wanted to be Marie's friend, but if they were her friend, then they couldn't be friends with Ashley. Ashley sighed. '_It's the first day and already no one likes me.'_ she thought to herself.

The boy in the swing looked over and asked, "You're Ashley right?"

Ashley looked over at the boy, a little shocked that he was talking to her. "Yep," she replied as she kicked her feet out in front of her, swinging higher. No matter how lonely she felt right now, swinging was making her feel a little better.

"I'm Carlos," the boy in the swing said. Ashley smiled at him then looked at the boy who had given up his swing for her. "And what's your name?" she inquired.

"TJ," he answered. "I saw what that other Ashley did to you, you should go tell the teacher what she did." Ashley shook her head, "No, my mom told me it's not nice to be a tattle-tale, she said it makes you just as bad as the other person."

The three of them were quiet for a few minutes, then finally Carlos slowed his swing to a stop and looked at Ashley. "Hey, do you want to be our friend, we don't really like Marie either. She sits at our table and tries to tell everyone what to do."

She stopped pumping her feet and looked over at Carlos in shock. "You want to be friends...with _me_?" she said slowly.

"Yeah we do, if you want to be friends with us," TJ replied with a grin.

Ashley's face lit up, she slowed her swing to a stop and said, "I want to be friends, can we be best friends?"

"Yeah, me and TJ are best friends, so we can all be best friends." Carlos replied.

"Yay!" Ashley squealed. She was so filled with glee that Marie was pushed out of her mind for the rest of the day. The three of them spent the rest of recess playing together and vowed to be best friends forever.

**A/N**: Yep, I'm starting a new one. Probably a not the greatest idea since I'm back in school and don't know how often I'll be able to update, but this idea has been bugging me for a while and finally overcame my rational mind, forcing me to write it. Anyways, I'd love to know what you think and I'd be very gracious if you review. (wink wink...)


	2. Meetings part 2

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Power Rangers...yadda, yadda...never going to...yadda, yadda... Marie, Britney, Chelsea, and Jessica are all mine though. :)

**A/N: **This is dedicated to Charmedfan90 for a belated birthday gift and for all his help on this chapter. Go read his new story **A Sister's Love**, it's a goodie:)

**Charmedfan90:** _Here's the next chapter. Thanks sooo much for your help on this, you are so the reason that I got this finished. And as promised, I am dedicating this to you for your birthday and for all of your help. :)_

**Sajabi88: **_Yay! I'm so glad that you like it. Hehe and it wasn't as soon as I origionally thought for getting this up...oh well, you knew what was happening anyway. lol :D_

**Alexandra Khayman: **_I'm so glad you like it. It is going a little slow, but I had a little background to lay out. It should pick up from here...I hope. Anyway's thanks so much for your review and I hope you enjoy!_

**bRaInWaVe: **_Yay!! Thanks, I'm so glad you're liking it:)_

**Phantom Rogue:** _Yay! I'm so glad that you found some extra time to read, thanks so much for your review!_

**Never Lose Faith**

**Chapter 2: Meetings part 2**

A small girl just barely eight years old, came skipping through the front door. She dropped her backpack in the living room and walked into the kitchen where her mother was making a pitcher of tea. She was the only one home right now, the girl's father was at work and her brother, Jeff, was over at a friend's house.

"Hi Ashley, how was you day at school today?" the girl's mother asked while stirring sugar into the tea.

The girl climbed up onto one of the stools in front of the counter. "It was okay, we got a new girl in my class today."

The mother looked up at her daughter and smiled, "Really? What's her name?"

"Cassandra Chan, but she says to call her Cassie...her family just moved to Angel Grove from another part of California, I don't remember where, but she said it was a little town that wasn't even on some California maps." The girl replied as she hopped off the stool and got some glasses out of the cabinet.

"Well, I bet it's pretty scary for her to have to come to a big school in a big town. Hey, how about you invite her over tomorrow after school?" Mrs. Hammond put ice in the pitcher and placed the lid on top, then poured them both a glass and sat down on one of the stools beside Ashley. Her daughter didn't have many girlfriends. Ever since her first day in Kindergarten, she had stuck with TJ and Carlos. Not that that was a bad thing but Mrs. Hammond thought it'd be nice for her to have some girlfriends.

Ashley looked up at her mom with a big grin, "Really...can she spend the night?"

Ashley's mom chuckled at her daughter's excitement, a little surprised, "Well, I don't see why not, since tomorrow's not a school night. As long as it's okay with Cassie's parents."

"Yay!" Ashley cried clapping her hands together. "Thanks mommy," she squealed engulfing her mother in a hug.

-------

(Friday, Angel Grove Elementary School, lunchtime)

Cassie stood in the long line waiting to get her tray and sighed. This was the first time she'd been in the school's cafeteria and it was a whole lot bigger than the one at her old school. Her parents had brought her up to register her in school the day before and the principal escorted her to her new classroom after all the paperwork was filled out, which happened to be after lunch. Thankfully, she had eaten before they had gone up to the school, so she wasn't really hungry.

She finally got through the lunch line and walked out with her tray looking around and wondering where to sit. From a table over by the corner of the cafeteria, a girl was looking straight at her with a welcoming grin, motioning for her to come over. It was the same girl that she had been assigned to sit beside in class and had spoken to a little the day before. She was sitting with two boys, one African American and one Hispanic looking, who were giggling about something and were seemingly oblivious to anything around them.

She ambled shyly over to the table and sat down next to the girl. "Hey," Ashley greeted with a smile. "Hi...Ashley?" Cassie replied hesitantly. She had met a lot of people the day before and was having a hard time remembering who was who.

"That's me, it must be hard to remember who everyone is, since you just met everyone yesterday." Ashley said looking across the table at the two boys. They had stopped their giggling and were looking at the newcomer. "Hey, you're the new girl...Cassie right?" the dark-skinned boy said.

Cassie nodded then gave them an apologetic look, "I'm sorry but I don't remember your names."

Comprehension dawning on him, the dark-skinned boy replied, "Oh, well I'm TJ and 'I'm glad to welcome you to our school.'" He said the last in a mock adult voice, which made the others laugh.

"And I'm Carlos," the other boy said after they stopped laughing. "It's nice to meet you Cassie."

Cassie gave the three of them a big smile. "Wow, you guys are so nice. Thanks for letting me sit with you, I was so scared that I wouldn't fit in here...or make any friends..." she trailed off looking down at her tray.

"Well, we really like you and if you'll let us, we'll be your friends," TJ told her. Cassie looked around the table at the other two, who confirmed their friends' statement with smiles and nods.

Her face lit up and she giggled a little, "Thank you. I want you all to be my friends!" She said with so much enthusiasm that it sent them all into another fit of giggles.

A few minutes later, after they caught their breath, Ashley turned to Cassie and said, "So, since we're friends now," she started, but paused when Cassie broke into giggles again, "my mom gave me permission to invite you over to spend the night tonight, if you want to, and if it's ok with your mom and dad. I'd love for you to come over. We'll have so much fun!" she said excitedly.

"Really?" said the raven-haired girl with almost as much excitement, "I'll have to ask my parents if it's ok."

"Ok, well here's my phone number," she said writing on a napkin, "if your parents say yes, just have them call my mom and she'll give them directions to our house." She finished and handed the napkin to Cassie.

The four of them spent the rest of lunch talking and chatting as if it had always been that way. Cassie no longer felt like she was just the new girl, in fact, she had a new sense of belonging. Or at least she did until about an hour later when she was cornered in the bathroom by four girls. They looked pretty well to do and carried themselves in a manner that said plainly that they were superior to her, and everyone else for that matter. One girl with blond hair stood a little in front of the others, and approached Cassie just as she finished washing her hands. _'She must be their leader,'_ Cassie thought to herself.

"Hi Cassie," the blond-haired girl said with a forced smile.

"Uh...hi," Cassie replied. She honestly didn't know why these girls were talking to her, she wasn't anything like them and she sure as heck didn't act like she was better than anyone else.

"Oh, she must have forgotten our names," a girl with red curly hair standing to the left of the blond haired "leader" stated in a high-pitched voice.

_'Or I never knew them because I didn't want to...,'_ Cassie thought.

The blond held her hand out and said, "Well, I'm Marie, and these are Britney, Chelsea, and Jessica." She pointed at each of her friends as she said their names.

"Look, I noticed that you were sitting with Ashley Hammond at lunch today," she continued after a brief pause from the introductions. "You don't want to be hanging around with her and those two boys."

Cassie frowned at the girl in front of her, "Oh yeah? And why's that?" she asked.

An evil-looking smile came across Marie's face. "Because, she never talks to anyone except that TJ and Carlos. She acts like no one else exists!" she said, making her hair fly with each word.

"No, I think it's the other way around," Cassie said, getting angrier the longer she talked to Marie. "I think that it's _you_ that acts like _she_ doesn't exist!"

Marie opened her mouth to respond, but stopped when she heard someone coming into the bathroom. Flinging her hair as she turned around, she called out, "Hello..._Ashley_."

"Marie...," Ashley replied, saying the name distastefully with a glare on her face. "Trying to bully Cassie out of being friends with me, like you did everyone else?" she asked, stepping further into the bathroom.

"We're just letting her know what kind of people to look out for," the curly red-haired girl that had been introduced as Britney said.

"Oh, I think I can see for myself who to look out for, and if they weren't so stuck up, maybe they'd notice that I'm trying to avoid _them_," came Cassie's voice from behind them.

The four girls whirled around and Marie walked up to Cassie until she was right in her face. "You're gonna regret that," she said in a nasty tone. Then she turned her back on her and started to leave the bathroom.

"Oh really, and why is that? Am I supposed to be scared of some girl who is jealous of _true_ friendship?" Cassie retorted.

Marie turned to face her again. "I have true friends," she said motioning to the three girls standing behind her, all three nodding their heads in agreement.

Cassie scoffed at them. "Well, if those are what you call true friends, then I would much rather be friends with someone genuinely caring and true like Ashley, TJ, and Carlos."

Glaring her worst glare, Marie turned on her heel and left the bathroom without saying another word; Britney, Chelsea, and Jessica faithfully following behind.

Cassie glanced at Ashley as the door closed and saw a few tears streaming down her face. She smiled sadly and said, "No one's ever said anything like that about me before...well, except TJ and Carlos. You really think that we're genuinely caring and true?" she asked.

"Of course!" Cassie exclaimed. "You guys let me sit with you and made me feel included. That's what true friends do: accept you no matter what...and you did, you talked to me from the moment I got here, even though you didn't know anything about me."

Cassie crossed the bathroom to where Ashley was standing and hugged her. Ashley slowly hugged Cassie back. After a few seconds, Ashley pulled back wiping at her tears. "Thanks."

"Hey," Cassie said with a grin, "that's what friends are for." She held out her arm to link through Ashley's and they skipped out of the bathroom arm-in-arm.

**A/N: **I hope you liked it. Let me know what you think! ;)


	3. A Brother's Love

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own Power Rangers. Just Ashley's parents and the paramedics. And I own Jeff's personality. I have no clue who originally came up with him but I've accepted him as her older brother and decided to put him in here. :)

**A/N:** Major thanks go to **Charmedfan90** for helping me write this chapter. Also, SweetSas brought to my attention that I didn't mention how old Ashley was in this chapter. Sorry about that guys, Ashley and her friends are 14 and Jeff is 17. I added a line to hint at Ashley's age after SweetSas informed me of this. Thank's SweetSas!

**Charmedfan90: **_You're very welcome. And thank you soooooo much for helping me with this chappie. I so wouldn't have gotten finished if it weren't for you.::hugs:: You're an awesome friend and inspiration to me Matt, you always keep me going. I hope we'll be able to push eachother through Nano when it starts up in a few days. :D_

**bRaInWaVe: **_Hehe, I loved Cassie in that chapter too. Thanks!_

**Alexandra Khayman: **_Not yet, I still need her. Though she won't bother you much in this chapter, since she's not in it. Sorry, for taking so long to update, I hope you enjoy it!_

**PurpleLeopard: **_Thanks! I hope you'll keep reading. :)_

**Tia: **_Thank you for your review. I'm so glad you liked it. Sorry they seemed a little older than they were supposed to be, I'm not used to writing children. But in this and coming chapters they are older, so hopefully they'll sound like their age. Thank you so much for your review and I hope that you'll keep reading!_

**Phantom Rogue: **_Yay, I'm so glad you like it. And no worries, three weeks and you still reviewed before I posted a new chapter. This is the one that I was having problems with, I hope it turned out ok._

**Never Lose Faith**

**Chapter 3: A Brother's Love**

"Hey Mom," Ashley called from the living room, "I'll be back later, Jeff's home!"

Ashley's mom poked her head into the living room from the kitchen. "Alright, you two be careful," she said glancing at both of her children with a caring smile.

Jeff sighed. "We'll be fine mom, I'm just going to pick up Ashley's friends and then take them to the movies. Don't worry," he said pulling his mother into a hug.

"Bye mom, love you," Ashley said hugging her mother after her brother stepped back.

"Love you too sweetie, love you both," she said taking in Jeff as well. "Try to be home by dinnertime," she called after them as they went out the front door.

As they started walking towards Jeff's car, Jeff's cell started ringing. "Hello," Jeff said into the receiver. "No, sorry man I can't, I told my sis that I'd take her and her friends somewhere today."

Ashley paused as she was getting into the car when she heard what her brother was saying. Jeff glanced her way and gave her a reassuring smile then sighed, going back to the conversation. "Sorry, I promised Ash...alright well you guys have fun," he paused and laughed then said, "alright bye." He closed his cell and looked at Ashley as he got in the car.

"Who was that?" Ashley asked as she got in and closed the door.

Jeff reached into his pocket and fished out his keys before answering. "That was Matt, he and a couple friends are going to a concert. (A/N: hehe, I couldn't resist, Matt) He asked me if I wanted to go."

Ashley's face lit up. "A concert, and you don't want to go?"

Jeff shook his head. "I made a promise that I'd take you guys out today, and I'm gonna stick to it, even if it means that I'll miss out on a concert. Besides, I'd do anything to make my little sister happy," he told her with a grin. Ashley grinned in return, absolutely touched by her brother's words. Tapping Ashley's shoulder briefly in a brotherly way, Jeff looked away from her and put the key in the ignition. He started up the car and headed for Cassie's house.

"So, which movie are you guys going to see?" Jeff asked while they were sitting at a red light.

Ashley looked over at him and shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I kinda want to see Titanic, but I don't know what the others will want to see."

"Oh, Titanic, that's a good one," Jeff said with a smile.

Ashley frowned at her brother and laughed. "I thought you didn't like tragic romance movies? And when did you see it anyway?"

Jeff kept his eyes on the road as he answered, "I took Julie to see it last week."

Ashley covered her mouth as she laughed again. "Aww, that's so sweet Jeff."

Jeff threw a mock-glare at Ashley as they pulled into the Chan's driveway. Ashley only laughed harder at his look. "So do you like her?" she asked.

"Go get your friend," he told her blushing slightly.

Ashley looked over at the house to see the front door opening and Cassie emerge, heading for the car. Ignoring his order, she grinned at his embarrassment. "You _do_ like her!" she exclaimed. "Shhhh," he replied, his finger over his mouth as Cassie got into the car.

"Ooh, what'd I miss?" Cassie asked noticing the exchange between the siblings.

Ashley broke down into giggles. "Jeff likes --," the rest of what she said was muffled as Jeff put his hand over her mouth. Grinning back at Cassie, Jeff said "She doesn't know what she's talking about, don't mind her."

Cassie chuckled at Jeff and glanced at Ashley, who was still giggling behind Jeff's hand. Pushing his hand away, she finally finished, "Jeff likes _a girl_."

"Oh, that's so cute," Cassie replied laughing.

Jeff rolled his eyes and turned back to the front shaking his head. "Girls...," he muttered under his breath. He put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway. Minutes later, they had picked up Carlos and TJ and were on their way to the theater.

Jeff smiled to himself as he listened to the four friends catch up on all that they had missed over the summer break so far. They had only been out of school for three weeks, but they didn't have cars and hadn't seen each other since then. The four of them would be starting their freshman year in the fall, and that seemed to be their main topic of conversation.

Once they got to the theater, the four friends talked Jeff into watching a movie with them. It wasn't Titanic, but it was one that they had all agreed on wanting to see.

A couple hours later they all exited the theater laughing and chatting about the movie that they had just seen. They all piled in the car and Jeff dropped them off, one by one, at their homes until it was just him and Ashley left.

"So, was it worth missing that concert?" Ashley asked her brother as he backed the car out of Cassie's drive.

Putting the car in drive, Jeff turned his gaze to Ashley before glancing back to the road and pushing on the accelerator. "Of course it was. There are concerts all the time, I can go to one of those and I see my friends all the time. Today I wanted to spend the day with my sister and her friends, even if I was only the chauffeur and chaperone."

Ashley shook her head, "You weren't just the chaperone and chauffeur. I'm glad that you came with us, well," she rolled her eyes, "I'm glad that you took us. Thank you," she finished with a smile.

Jeff grinned at her as he pulled up to a stop light. The intersection was abandoned and he let out a sigh. "Man, I hate it when you get a red light and there's no one coming from the other way."

After a few minutes, the light finally turned green. Jeff pulled out into the intersection and briefly heard Ashley's warning before a vehicle slammed into the passenger side of his car. The momentum from the other car pushed them to one of the corners of the intersection, where they were stopped by a pole.

Jeff did a mental check of himself and knew that he would be ok. Glancing at Ashley, he noticed that she was slumped over in her seat, held up by only her seatbelt.

"Ashley? Ash, are you ok?" His questions were met with silence. "Ashley!" he said, panic creeping into his voice. He reached over and carefully sat her back in her seat. His heart froze when he saw the blood on her face. He reached up and felt her neck to see if he could feel a pulse and was reassured when he felt her fast-paced heartbeat.

With shaky fingers, he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911. "Hello...yes, yes, there's been an accident," he told the operator in a shaky voice. He gave her all the information so that they could send someone out and she assured him that they would be there in a few minutes.

Jeff hung up the phone and checked Ashley's pulse again. It was still very strong and Jeff let out a sigh. He briefly thought about the other car but wasn't going to leave his sister, especially when he wasn't absolutely sure that she would be okay. He looked her over and didn't see any other injuries. Silently he prayed that she didn't have any internal injuries.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics got Ashley out of the car and into the ambulance, where they worked on cleaning her up and figuring out where the injury was.

One of the paramedics approached Jeff and put a hand on his shoulder. "Son, are you feeling okay? Have any pain anywhere?"

Jeff shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Is my sister going to be alright?"

The paramedic smiled at him. "She'll be fine. The impact of the crash made her hit her head, that's what caused her to pass out, but the blood was from a piece of glass that cut her face. She'll have a scar, but she'll be ok." Jeff numbly nodded.

"Look, why don't you go contact your parents, we'll take care of her," the paramedic assured. Jeff nodded again and walked back to his car to get his phone.

Walking a short distance from the car, he opened the phone and called his parents. It was so hard for him to tell them what had happened. He was so scared that they would be mad at him. He broke down in tears before he got off the phone with them. They assured him that they weren't mad at him and that they would be there soon, barely concealing their own worry for their daughter.

Minutes later they arrived at the scene. Jeff's mom walked over to him and just held him when he broke down in tears again. His father went over to the paramedics to see how Ashley was doing. Catching their eye after talking to a paramedic, Jeff's father motioned for them to come over.

When they reached him, he told them everything that he had found out from the paramedic. Ashley was conscious and responsive, but she'd still have to go to the hospital for stitches. Jeff asked if he could ride in the ambulance with her, looking to his parents and then the paramedic nearby.

"There's only room for one," the paramedic told them.

Jeff's mom put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "You can ride with her. We'll follow behind the ambulance." Jeff smiled at her and climbed up into the ambulance. The paramedics closed the doors behind him and he turned his attention to his sister. Her eyes were closed and she had a bandage on the right side of her face.

"Ash?" he whispered. Her eyes popped open and she smiled up at him. "Jeff, are you ok?"

He chuckled at her. "That's what I should be asking you, you really scared me there for a minute." His half smile sobered into a sad smile and he looked away from her. "Ash, I'm so sorry."

"Jeff, it's not your fault. That car came out of nowhere, I didn't even see it until it was right there," she said motioning with her hand.

Jeff couldn't shake the blame that he was feeling. Ashley saw the guilt playing out in his eyes, and weakly reached out towards him. Jeff immediately gripped her hand and squeezed it gently. "It's not your fault," she repeated.

"I know," he said softly.

"You are my big brother," Ashley said, "and I know you wouldn't hurt me." Jeff smiled down at her, and squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you're ok, Ash." She smiled up at him once again and let her eyes drift closed, knowing that she would be safe with her brother at her side.

One month later...

"Ash, Cassie's here," Jeff called up the stairs.

Ashley finished putting up her hair and walked out of the bathroom. As she went downstairs, she smiled at Jeff. "Thanks," she said, but she saw him looking at the scar that ran down her right cheek, close to her jaw bone. She pulled her hair over it, and gave her brother a smile. "I'll be ok Jeff," she said, as she heard Cassie calling out her name.

"I know…but it is my job as a big brother to worry about you," he said, pulling her into a quick hug.

"And I couldn't ask for a better brother, I'll see you later," Ashley told him as she released him. She threw him a smile before descending the rest of the stairs and walking out with her friend.

**A/N:** Well, it's coming along slowly but surely. I've just been aggravated with this story in trying to get it up and going. I have a question for you guys. Does it seem to jumpy to you? And if so, do you have any suggestions or help. I'm open to any advice you could give. I know what's going to happen later in this story, it's just the working up to it that I'm having problems with. Thanks for reading and review please!


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